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Nashville, Chattanooga
The G8A class locomotives were a fleet of 7 4-6-0 Ten-Wheeler type steam locomotives that worked on the Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway from 1906 until 1949. History According to Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway, History and Steam Locomotives by Richard E. Prince, the NC&StL placed an order for 3 Balanced Compound Ten-Wheelers from Baldwin in 1905. This kind of 4 cylindered locomotives was also Vauclain Compound locomotive in honor of the president of Baldwin Locomotive Works, Samuel Vauclain. It should also be noted that the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad also owned engines of the same design. When the engines arrived on the NC&StL in December 1905 (plus an extra engine arriving from Baldwin in July 1906), they were a technological marvel to gaze upon and were classified as G8. Each locomotive had 22" x 26" inch cylinders, a 200 psi boiler, 66" inch driving wheels, a tractive effort of 32,400 lbs., weighed in at 94.95 tons (140 tons with tender) and numbered 280 - 283. Their tenders could hold up to 5,000 gallons of water and 11.50 tons of coal. Both of the 16" inch high-pressure cylinders were located between the frames and connected to the crank axle of the lead pair of driving wheels. The two 27" inch low-pressure cylinders were also connected to the leading drive wheels but were set on each side outside of the frames. There were two piston valves - each supplying steam to the high and low-pressure cylinders on its side of the locomotive. When originally built, the boilers of the balanced compound G8As supplied saturated steam at 210 lbs working pressure. The engines were later fitted with superheaters and the pressure was reduced to 190 lbs working pressure. Because of this, the locomotives were then re-classified as G8As. In 1908, the NC&StL bought 3 additional locomotives from Baldwin, these were numbered 284 - 286. The second batch of G8As weren't superheated and used 210 lbs of saturated steam. One interesting fact about the second batch of engines was that they were fitted with Walscherts Valve Gear instead of Stephenson Link Valve Gear which was used by the earlier batch. The locomotives were later rebuilt in 1919 and gained a new and modern look with the main piston rod connecting to the middle drive wheels instead of the leading drive wheels. List of Locomotives and Serial Numbers * #280: Built by Baldwin in December 1905 (serial number 27000). Scrapped on September 27th, 1947. * #281: Built by Baldwin in December 1905 (serial number 27085). Scrapped in June 1948. * #282: Built by Baldwin in December 1905 (serial number 27178). Scrapped in April 1949. * #283: Built by Baldwin in July 1906 (serial number 28561). Scrapped September 20th, 1947. * #284: Built by Baldwin in November 1908 (serial number 33035). Scrapped September 20th, 1947. * #285: Built by Baldwin in November 1908 (serial number 33036). Scrapped September 20th, 1947. * #286: Built by Baldwin in November 1908 (serial number 33037). Scrapped August 15th, 1948. Retirement After seeing 2 world wars come and go, the first of the G8As were retired from service on September 20th, 1947 when engines #283, 284, and 285 were sold to the scrapyard, followed by #280 on the 27th. #281 and #286 followed in 1948 and in 1949, class member #282 became the last of the G8As to retire from service. Sadly none of the G8As were spared from the scrapper' torch. Great Nashville Wreck of 1918 On July 9th, 1918, Locomotives #281 and #282 were involved in a head-on collision in Nashville, Tennessee. Engine #282 was heading train #71, which consisted of 2 baggage/mail cars and 6 passenger cars. #282 departed Nashville Union Station at 7:07 a.m. bound for Memphis, Tennessee. #281 was heading train #1, which consisted of 1 baggage car, 6 passenger cars, and 2 Pullman sleeping cars. #281 left the town of McKensie, Tennessee four hours earlier, and passed Bellevue at 7:09 a.m., thirty-five minutes behind schedule. Both trains required the use of a single-track section approximately 10 miles (16 km) long in the western portion of Nashville. According to contemporary practices, the inbound train (No. 1) retained the right-of-way. Thus, the railroad dispatch informed the crew of the opposing (No. 4) train of the locomotive number of the No. 1, with the orders to stop in the double-track section if the crew did not visually identify the passing No. 1 before they reached the interlocking tower known as "Shops Junction", where the single-track section began. The term "Shops" referred to the railroad's massive repair and refueling shops including its largest roundhouse. This was not a passenger stop but rather the junction where the railroad's mainline track to Memphis narrowed down to just one track. While train No. 4 traversed the double-track section, the conductor delegated the responsibility of identifying No. 1 to the remainder of the crew. While collecting tickets, the conductor mistook the sound of a passing switch engine with empty passenger cars as No. 1. The crew either made the same error or were negligent in properly identifying the train. As No. 4 approached the interlocking tower at Shops Junction, tower operator J. S. Johnson showed a clear signal from the tower's train order signals, indicating all was clear. As he stopped to record the train in his logs, he noticed that there was no entry showing that the opposing train No. 1 had passed. Johnson reported to the dispatcher who telegraphed back, "He meets No. 1 there, can you stop him?" Johnson sounded the emergency whistle, but there was no one at the rear of No. 4 to hear it. The train passed on the assumption that the clear train order board indicated that the line ahead was clear. Also, the engineman and conductor failed to visually inspect the train register at Shops Junction to ascertain as to whether No. 1 had yet arrived. That was required by operating instructions issued by the railroad's management prior to the wreck. Shortly after 7:20 a.m. the two trains collided at Dutchman's Grade near White Bridge Road. It is estimated that the westbound train was traveling at about 50 mph while the Nashville-bound train was running at 60 mph. Many of the wooden cars were crushed or hurled sideways. The sound of the collision could be heard two miles (3 km) away. This was to have been the last trip before the retirement of the engineer of the Nashville-bound train. 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